Fire Blooms Red
by Jeshhy
Summary: He was a god now. And gods had to make sacrafices. Pyro's story of what happened after the events of X-men: The Last Stand. Pyro/Iceman rivalry, with a bit of PyroxOC thrown in. Please R&R.
1. Decisions of a Pyromanic

_I cannot spell, so I apologise for any mistakes in this. Spell checker should help with most of them, but it doesnt help with grammer._

_Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, Pyro, or Iceman. I only own my OC, Garnet. _

**Fire Blooms Red**

Pyro didn't bother to stop after Magneto was hit. He saw Beast jump up behind him and raise the needles. He saw as he stabbed them deep into Magnetos chest, sucking away his power like a flame without oxygen. Perhaps he could have saved him, torched the attacker, had his hands not been bound by the traitors ice.

How humiliating, to have been beaten by such a pathetic, worthless sop. The sting on his hands and the ache in his head was nothing compared to the indignity of loss. Knowing that he had failed. Him! Pyro. He wasn't supposed to fail. He'd played it over in his head so many times. He was supposed to crush him, dominate his strategy and creation with raw power and destruction. He was supposed to watch as the Iceman gave in to him, watch his arms go limp as his body slowly burnt and turned to ash.

And yet now here he stood, his hands frozen, powerless. He couldn't move his fingers to trigger the fire starting device, and he doubted it would've worked when soaked anyway. He was trapped, a mortal, at least till the ice melted.

He knew that Magneto could not have survived the blow with his powers intact, so would be of no further use. It was disappointing, yes. Magneto had been a mentor, someone who had shown him a new way to live. Made him realize his true potential, what he could be. His loss was regrettable, but not avoidable. He was a human now, and humans had no place with mutants. After all, Pyro was a god now, and gods had to make sacrifices. Magneto had taught him that.

So Pyro did not run to help him. His powers were gone, and therefore so was all his worth. Mutants around him were falling, the few who had avoided the cure fleeing, knowing that they had no hope of winning.

So Pyro did the same, destroying what was left of his dignity and running, tail between his legs. He felt like a failure. To run was the worse possible thing he could have done. To lose was bad, but to run away before the battle was over was so much worse. The damage he had done, the destruction he cause hardly made up for the humiliation of fleeing. At least by running it meant he would still have a chance to redeem himself. But still, John had always said he would die before admitting defeat. And yet now he was doing the exact opposite.

Pyro did not know where to go. What to do next. He could go back to Magneto's base, where he suspected the rest of the fleeing mutants were turning, no doubt wanting to ransack what they could. He always try and rally them up again, salvage the troupes and plan a new attack.

But what was the point really? He could easily take charge, having been second in command and the strongest mutant there. But they would argue at first, taking up time and effort Pyro really didn't want to waste. No, he had always survived better on his own, and so would now till came a time when he was in need of an army.

So what would he do instead? He could hardly go back home to Australia, where his family would be earnestly awaiting his arrival.

"Why?" He remembered his mother asking one day in a drunken rage. "What could we have possible done to deserve a son like you?"

His mother had always thought of and treated him like a failure. As if it was his fault he was born a mutant. He was an embarrassment to them. A burden. A freak. They were hardly perfect themselves. A 'self employed' father, who did nothing but sit home and complain about life in general. A alcoholic mother, who acted as if the whole world was against her. And a criminal brother, who spent his time locked up in juvenile prison. And yet HE was the embarrassment. The blunt on the family. They could hardly wait to be shot of him, nor him of them. How happy he'd been when he finally saved up enough money to leave home. He'd left in the middle of the night, smashing all the windows in the house to wake them up. He wanted to see their reactions as he left. His father had attacked him, not to try and stop him leaving but out of anger of the damage he'd done to the house. He'd grabbed John's shoulders and shoved him against the wall, yelling abuse all the way. John simply smiled as he flicked his lighter open and caught alight, scolding his father in the process. He delivered a sharp kick to the gut before transferring the fire onto the wall. Pyro grinned at the memory, remembering his mothers horrified screams as he burnt the retched house to the ground.

No, there was no way he would go back.

The real question was not where he would go but what he would do there. His life as a mutant had been filled with fighting for someone else's ideals. So it made sense that he would spend the rest fighting for his own.

But what were his ideals, Pyro wondered. He'd never really had any before. He just wanted to live his life in what ever way would create the most mayhem. It had been a sort of 'live for now' philosophy as opposed to actually planning for the future. He knew he didn't like Xavier's philosophy of living in peace and harmony with the humans. He couldn't think of anything more boring. He supposed that was the main reason he'd joined Magneto really, out of shear boredom. That, and he wanted power. Everyone wanted power really. That's why the humans were so afraid of mutants, because they feared losing power. Ironic really, that by fearing mutants they were inspiring them to take power by force. In a way, they created 'the monster' themselves. Perhaps Pyro would continue with Magnetos work. After all, that was what would create the most mayhem and destruction, not to mention give him the most power.

Yes, overtaking the humans was most defiantly the way to go.

But how? What was the next step to world domination? He supposed the best way to go would continue trying to destroy the cure. Which meant killing that wretched kid. But he was in the X-Men's hands now. How could he possibly get to him?

Suddenly Pyro had a strike of inspiration. Bobby. If he could endanger something important to him, that weakling would give anything to save it. And conveniently enough, Pyro had knew just the thing.


	2. New Acquaintances

Boston was just as he remembered it. Bobby's family's house lay in an upper class suburban area. He had a basic idea of how to get there, and figured he'd recognize the house when he saw it. However, when he arrived, he found a number of houses that it could have been. He could always go knocking door to door, but suppose he ended up meeting a neighbor that recognized him? He could easily evade any police that arrived, but he didn't want to cause too much of a ruckus before capturing the Drakes, incase they escaped whilst he was occupied. What's more, it was highly possible that they weren't even still living there. It was likely they thought it was too risky to stay living in a house where a psychopath like Pyro knew where they lived. In which case, he was totally screwed.

Pyro groaned. Why didn't he think of this before? He could have gotten a phone book or something and confirmed their address, before coming all the way down here. He didn't even know if they were still in Boston.

A girl of about 16 was sitting across the road on a concrete retaining wall, her back to Pyro. Perhaps she would have some idea as to which house was the Drakes. He walked over to her, crossing the road in a slight ark to get a better look at the girl before approaching her.

Abruptly, Pyro stopped dead. In the girl's hands lay a small, flickering object. A flower, made of flames. Pyro's eyebrows narrowed as he moved for a closer look. It was clear she held no lighter, match, or any other source of fire. The flower shrunk into an ordinary fireball, before slowly changing in shape and blooming into a flower again. It was the most beautiful thing Pyro had ever seen.

The girl looked up and the flower quickly disappeared. She stared at him for a few seconds, before slowly lowering her head and sighing.

"Alright," She said, standing up. Her tone was bored, her voice both edgy and smooth at the same time. "Let's get this over with."

Pyro blinked at her. "I'm sorry?"

"You're here to point fun at the local freak. Try see how pissed off you can get her. You wanna see some flames, right?" She was stand almost nose to nose with him now. She was reasonable tall, the top of her head reaching just above his eyebrows.

"What? No I just…ah…" Pyro suddenly had a change of tact. "Could you teach me that?"

Now it was her turn to be confused. "I'm sorry?"

Pyro couldn't help but grin. "The flower thing." He shot out a ball of fire and turned it over in his hand. Thankfully, the mechanism Magneto had given him still worked once it had dried out. "Can you teach me how to do it?"

She stared at him for a long time. Pyro became very aware of her gaze. He found his face beginning to turn hot under her stare. Eventually, she slowly raised her hand and created a flame much like his own.

"Okay, well…um…look at the flame you've got now, and then, like, envision what you want it to become, so, the flower I guess. Then, picture that flame becoming the flower. Really imagine the process, each movement the flame must make to become the flower. With me so far?"

Pyro nodded.

"Good, now, look at your flame and see it happen. Like, really imagine the process. You have to fully believe it for it to work well. See it happening in your mind, and then see it happening in real life. See?" The girl formed a fresh flower in her palm to demonstrate.

Pyro, eager to impress, did all she told him to the best of his ability, forming a rather lop sided lump in his own hand. He tried harder, seeing the perfectly crafted flower the girl made and comparing it to his own. He still had little success.

The girl laughed, causing Pyro to extinguish his shape irritably. Her laugh was in startling contrast to her voice, which was sharp and slightly deep. Her laugh was soft, gentle, and rather high.

"You'll get better. It takes practice…and concentration." She added with another laugh as Pyro's head swiveled in the direction of a loud bird.

"I guess I'm better at the more, heavy duty stuff." Pyro told her. Now it was his turn to impress. He spawned a flame in his hand and shot it down the street. When it reached a length of 20 feet or so, he flicked his fingers are the fire path grew 3 metres in height. He let the flame linger for a few seconds, then extinguished it and turned to see the girls reaction. She was staring at him curiously. She opened her mouth once and then closed it almost instantly. Then she spoke.

"You have more power, but less control." She said, with an odd expression on her face.

Pyro wasn't sure whether it was a statement or a question, so he simply nodded.

"Interesting." She commented. "And you can't create the fire."

"Just manipulate it." He finished for her.

The girl chewed her lip, as if she was thinking. "Who are you?" She asked him.

"My name's Pyro." He told her. "And yours?"

She paused. "Garnet," she said.

"That your given name?" He asked her.

She nodded.

"Ever thought about changing it?"

"I happen to like my name thank you very much. And you? I presume Pyro's not your real name, or did you develop powers at an early age?"

"My real name's John. I didn't mean tha- I just meant…you know…if you wanted to re-invent yourself or something. I think it's a nice name- Garnet I mean." Pyro scratched his head.

"John." She said, as if she was testing it out on her tongue.

"John." He confirmed.

"Well John, what's your story?"

"Who say's I have to have a story?"

"You're a mutant aren't you?"

Pyro smiled. "Good point. Well, I was born in Australia, to the Allerdyces. My family…well, we never really saw eye to eye. So when I turned 16 I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I brought a one way ticket to America and never looked back."

"Why America?" She interrupted him.

"I dunno. More opportunities, change. I guess I just wanted to get away. Yea, so I was in USA when, just a week after I arrived, this guy called Charles Xavier comes to my motel and-"

"You don't have much of an accent." She interrupted again.

"Um…no, I suppose not. So anyway-"

"Why wait till you were sixteen?" She asked him. Then seeing the look on his face, she apologized. "Sorry. Continue."

"Xavier comes and tells me about this school he runs. It's a school for mutants. Sounds great and stuff, and it was, I guess, but. It just wasn't really for me. This guy, Magneto, he came and showed me what I could do. So I go off with him, and fight for mutant rights for a bit. Problem was, he was forcefully cured, along with most of the rest of our army. So now I'm on my own for a while." He finished.

"Life story in 250 words or less huh?" She said.

"Something like that. Okay now your turn." He told her.

"Ahhh." Garnet groaned. "Alright. It's not much really. Well, I lived with my parents till I was about 8, then they died. After that I've just been in and out of foster homes really. Everyone was…not right I guess. No one could really handle my…baggage. Right now I'm with the Smiths. They are nice enough I guess but…I don't think I'll be staying here too much longer to be honest."

"Wow. I'm sorry about your parents." Pyro wasn't really. The fact the she had no family made things much easier for him. "How'd they die, if you don't mind me asking?"

Garnet looked up at him. Her expression was blank. She opened her mouth, and with no emotion, she spoke.

"I killed them."


	3. A Story and an Invitation

"I didn't mean to do it." She continued. "It just sort of…happened. We were sitting at home, one summers day, and it was really hot. Like really hot. Burning. We were all eating ice blocks to try and keep us cool. It wasn't working. My parents seemed to be okay, they were just watching TV contently, but I couldn't stand it. It was like when you go really close to a fireplace and you can feel your face burning, but for my whole body. And I just…snapped. One moment I was sitting on the floor, panting, the next, the whole room was on fire. All I could do was sit there staring. I was in shock I guess. I sat there for over an hour, listen to my parents scream but not being able to do anything to save them. I heard the fire trucks come, the neighbors begin to crowd around, and the fire men sadly declare that it was too dangerous to go inside and pull anyone out. The fire didn't move from its original positions much. It stayed on the property and just burned till there was nothing left but ash. The fire hoses did nothing to put out the fire. Eventually, when the house had disappeared, the fire just stopped. As abruptly as it had appeared, it was gone. And I could move again. The spectators stood in shock as this little girl got up and walked unharmed away from the ashes of her house. No one could explain it.

"Well, not until the Peters. My first foster home. See, I knew that I had done something before to control the fire, stop it from harming me. So I did a few…tests, to try and learn to control it. Didn't go so well. Everyone's kept a very close eye on me since then."

For a while, Pyro was silent. He didn't know whether or not he felt sorry for Garnet. Sure, her life so far had been nothing but misery and pain, but so was the life of every mutant. It kinda went with the territory.

"Well, that sucks." He said intelligently.

"Yeah, pretty much." She replied.

Looking up, Pyro realized the sun was setting. They had been talking for several hours. Luckily, that suited him just fine. His plan would work just as well, no better, at night. It was time to put his plan into action. But first.

"What's your opinion on humans?" He asked her.

Garnet looked thoughtful. "I dunno. I don't really have that much of one. I guess, they are all different really. There are some nice enough ones, and then totally insensitive asshole ones. Unfortunately, it's those ones that seem to be in charge most of the time."

That was good enough for Pyro. "Come with me." He told her.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mentioned I was fighting for Mutant Rights right? Come with me. Join my cause. Help me to help the world."

"Gee, that phrase isn't over used at all." She said sarcastically. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not really a very 'righteous' person. I'm more the sort of, what ever happens happens type."

"Trust me, you'll be perfect. It's not exactly your typical protest sort of thing. You know that attack on Alcatraz a few weeks ago? That was us. See, we believe that a war is coming. It's unavoidable. And if we don't fight, we will be wiped out. The attack was to try and destroy the cure. It's been _weaponised_, Garnet. That means that they are already preparing to force the cure on mutants. It's already started. That's what happened to Magneto. It's fight back or be destroyed. What's it gonna be for you?"

"Your not really giving me much of a choice are you?" Garnet said. "It's go with you, or stay here, continuing on with this waste of an existence. What are you doing in Boston anyway?"

"Well, you know how I mentioned the cure? We were- well, are, trying to destroy it, or more specifically, the source or it, which turns out is this mutant kid. However, it feel into the hands of the school I was talking about. I'm here to get him back. Speaking of which, do you by any chance know which house the Drakeslive at?" Pyro asked.

"The Drakes? Sure, they are just around the corner. Here I'll show you." They started walking. "But um, you should know, they aren't really very fond of mutants."

"Oh I know." Pyro smiled. "I know."


	4. The Drakes

As it turned out, the Drakeshad become slight security freaks since the last time they had met. But unfortunately for them, no burglar alarm could stop Pyro. He calmly waltzed up the door and knocked loudly. A glance at the car in the driveway indicated they were in fact home. After a brief wait the door slowly opened revealing a teenage boy with a scowl on his face. Bobby's brother.

"What?" The boy said rudely. He paused for a moment, looking at Pyro, before a strange look crossed his face. He kept glancing from his hair to his face to his hands.

"Hello there," Pyro innocently. "Are your mother and father home?"

The boy looked behind him into the house and a muffled voice sounded from the room.

"How many times have we told you to check who it is before just opening the door and letting any old weirdo into the house?" A women's voice angrily spoke.

"Who is it anyway?" Said a male's voice, sounding equally as irked. More shuffling sounded before Bobby's father appeared behind the door. He looked at Pyro and a look of utter horror immediately shot onto his face. They remembered him alright.

"Close that door!" He yelled, diving to slam it shut but not before Pyro could wedge his foot between the wall.

"Hello Mr. Drake," He grinned mischievously, "I was hoping to borrow a few moments of your time."

"You bloody well cannot!" Mr. Drake spat, still wrestling with the door.

Pyro pulled a face. "Tsk tsk. Is this how you always greet guests?"

"You are no guest of ours. Now get the hell off my property before I call the police!"

"Now I really don't think that's the smartest idea, do you? I mean, considering what happened last time…" Pyro smiled. "I think it would be best if we just came in. Garnet?"

Garnet stepped up to the door and burned a flame in the pig like man's face, moving closer till he backed away. She had no problem with scaring the Drakes. They had always been a rude, prejudiced lot, and she rather enjoyed giving them something to really complain about.

"On the couch." She growled. She was having fun with her role as the muscle. It was…interesting.

"Well, well." Pyro said once they were all assembled on the couch. "I must say, you all seem to look even more pathetic then when we last met." He surveyed them briefly staring each one in the eye before continuing. "Don't give me that look. We are not the monsters you make us out to be. Or at least, we weren't till people like you made us. We are only fighting for our survival after all."

"That's bullshit!" Bobby's brother yelled. "How is threatening us helping your survival?"

"It's people like you," Pyro continued as if he hadn't spoken, "that want us all in cages, strapped up somewhere where we'll never have the chance to take our rightful places at the top of the food chain. Well…" He smiled at Garnet, creating a wall of fire in front of the Drakes. "Don't you just love irony?" He looked at her meaningfully and she seemed to catch his drift, raising her hand unsurely before artfully crafting the fire into cage bars around the couch.

"What do you want with us?" Mrs. Drake piped up.

"Directly, nothing. Well, that's not entirely true. Quite frankly I'd love set this house on fire and watch you all burn to a crisp. But sadly, that is not why I am here. I presume you are all familiar with the term blackmail?"

"…Bobby." Mrs. Drake whispered.

"That's right. Dearest Bobby, pride and joy of the family. For you see, even though you betrayed him, turned your backs on him, tore his heart out and stomped it into the dirt," He pause for dramatic effect. Oh how he was loving this. "…young Bobby still cares for his dear family. As such, he would do anything, and more importantly, give anything, to make sure they stay safe. Speaking of which, could you kindly refer me to the phone?"

Mr. Drake scoffed. "Like hell."

Pyro's expression darkened. "Do not toy with me. I am not a particularly patient person, and should you not refer me to the phone immediately that obnoxious little son of yours may just lose his hand."

"And how do we know that not just an empty threat?" The father tested him.

"Honey!" His wife interjected,

"No dear. You must be firm with these people. If you let them think they have won then they will walk all over you."

Pyro sighed, as if he wasn't totally pleased they weren't co-operating. He unleashed a burst of fire upon Bobby's brother's arm and allowed it to sizzle.

"Wait!" Garnet swiftly extinguished the flame and looked a Pyro appalled. "You can't actual hurt these people."

"Sacrifices must be made Garnet. These people deserve it just as much as anyone else."

"But that's wrong! No one deserves to be-"

"This is not the time or place to be discussing ethics!" He growled. He was getting very impatient. He turned back to the Drakes. "Phone!"

"In the kitchen." Mrs. Drake answered sadly. Pyro glanced at Garnet once more before leaving the room, reappearing moments later with phone in hand.

"Now," He began, dialing the phone.

Miles away a tall, silver haired woman was reading when she heard a phone ring. She finished the sentence she was on and dashed to pick up the phone.

"Hello, Xavier's Academy?"

"Hello Storm." Pyro said.

Storm's eyebrows narrowed. "Who is this?"

"Awh, you don't recognize my voice? I'm truly hurt Storm. After all the hours we have spent in class together-"

"Pyro." Storm growled. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to speak to Bobby, if that's not too much trouble."

"Bobby's not here."

Pyro sighed. "Don't lie to me Storm. I just wanna have a chat with my old friend. Go fetch Bobby."

"Why should I? Bobby's doing just fine without you."

Pyro's smile faded. "Storm, I have the Drake family here with me waiting to talk to their son. They would be very disappointed if they don't get the chance to. You don't want that on your shoulders do you?"

"…You crafty little ba-"

"Don't keep me waiting Storm."

Storm slammed her fist on the table. Unbelievable. And here she was thinking with Magneto gone there would be nothing to worry about. He had her. She knew she couldn't not give the phone to Bobby, not when his poor family would pay the price. But there was no telling what he would agree to once on the phone. Still, she had no choice. Damn it.


	5. Bobby's Phonecall

_Yay Bobby's back!_

_Yea sorry this chapter is a bit shorter. It's late and I can't think of how to bulk it out without it getting tedious, and I feel like him actually confronting Pyro should be a seperate chapter._

* * *

"-three cups of sugar and mix it in well with-"

"-make's this creature quite amazing is-"

"-not right Tommy! I mean how wou-"

Bobby sighed as he flicked back and fourth between channels. It seemed his only choices were between cooking shows, boring documentaries and pointless soap operas. Lately it had been impossible to find even remotely good shows.

Unsuccessful, he decided to give up and switched off the TV, just as he noticed Storm enter the room. She gestured the phone in her hand towards him.

"Who is it?" He asked her, grabbing the phone from her. Storm looked at the ground and didn't answer. He lifted the phone up to his ear.

"Hello Bobby."

Bobby nearly dropped the phone from shock. Pyro. He recognised his voice instantly. How- why was he calling? What on earth could he want? How did he even dare to call?

"John," Bobby snarled into the receiver.

"My name hasn't been John for a while now Bobby. You of all people should know that."

"What, you kill a few innocent people and suddenly you think you're a totally new person? No. Your just John, but more of an asshole."

Pyro laughed. "Same old Bobby. Tell me then, Iceman, how you been? It's been so long. How's life been treating you?"

"Pretty good. Yourself?"

"Not bad, not bad. How's Rogue? Hear she's human now. What a disappointment she turned out to be."

Bobby clenched his teeth. "Why don't you come down here and say that to my face?"

"Funny you should say that. See I was just thinking, you should come up here and we can have a little reunion. It has been such a long time since we last had a nice chat. What do you say Bobby-boy? Just you, me, and your family. Considering all the fun we had last time."

"Yeah, I- wait family?" Bobby froze. "Where are you Pyro?" Bobby practically screamed into the phone.

"Where else, but your lovely little family homestead. I'm sure they've all been missing you so dearly. In fact I got them with me right now. How eager they all look at the prospect of seeing their son again. How about it? You can just hop right into that ol' jet of yours, just you and no one else. Hey and whilst your at it, why don't you bring along that new mutant kid, what was his name…Jimmy?"

Bobby sighed. "So that's what this is all about. You want me to bring an innocent little kid down so you can dispose of him, just encase of the small possibility that he might cause you a little trouble in the future. And in return you will guarantee the safety of my family, correct?"

"I wouldn't go as far as their guaranteed safety, but they will live, yes."

"And if I don't comply?"

"I think you can figure that one out for yourself."

Bobby sighed. He had to figure something out, and fast. "How soon do you want me there?"

"Hmm…would the next half hour be a bit of a stretch?"

"Geez, the jet's fast, but it's not that fast."

"I'm sure you can make it if you leave now."

"Well I'll do my best, but-"

"Alright then. See you soon. Oh and Bobby, I don't like to be keep waiting. And I don't think your family will either."

"You can't hurt them. If you do then you'll have nothing left to bargain with."

"That's where your wrong. See I have three toys to play with. And I only need one to get what I want. Keep that in mind. Half an hour." And with that he hung up.

Shit. Bobby looked at Storm. She was shaking her head.

"Jimmy?" She asked.

Bobby nodded. He had three choices, none of them good. Either do exactly what Pyro told him, bring the boy and surrender him for his family. Try to trick Pyro by secretly bringing along another X-men or not bringing Jimmy, risking Pyro finding out and killing his family on the spot. Or launch a full attack, bringing in as many X-men as possible and trying to kill Pyro as fast as he could. The latter would no doubt result in Pyro burning everything in sight before fleeing the premises. Even if they did manage to catch Pyro before he escaped, his family would already almost certainly be dead.

Which meant the second choice was the way to go. But how exactly would he do it? It would be difficult to not bring Jimmy and be able to stall Pyro for long enough to get his family out of there. He would have to bring the kid, but be very careful and have a plan in place to get him out. Bringing too many X-men would be incredibly obvious and extremely risky, so one or too would be the way too go. Who, Bobby wondered. Kitty would probably be best as she could easily sneak into the house.

If only Rogue still had her powers, Bobby thought. Then Kitty could have snuck her in, and she could have leapt behind Pyro and drained him of his powers and all his danger. Perhaps if Kitty could restrain him somehow…

Bobby had it. He would go in and distract Pyro, whilst Kitty snuck through one of the walls and pulled his family through the floor and safely into the basement. Of course there was always a chance that something would go wrong, but it was the best he had. And it had to work. It had to.


	6. Plans in Action

Garnet was looking at Pyro strangely again. Her expression was a mixture of curiosity and disapproval.

"What?" He eventually asked her.

"Oh nothing. It's just…you were like a different person."

"And?" Pyro replied.

"I guess I'm just trying to figure out which one is the real you."

"Can't it be both? Everyone has more than one side right?"

"True. But not everyone has a psychopath side…" Garnet grinned.

Pyro glared at her.

"I'm just kidding." She sighed. "So what are we supposed to do for the next half hour?"

"We wait." Pyro said. And so they did. By the time they finally did hear the roar of the jets engines, Garnet was just about read to gnaw her own hand off out of boredom. Pyro signaled to her to stay where she was and guard the Drakes, and walked out the front door.

"Bobby!" Pyro yelled, raising his hands as Bobby exited the jet. "How you been? Gosh, you look just as pathetic as the last time we met."

Bobby glared at him as he moved closer. "And I kicked your ass then too."

"Yeah, by cheating." Pyro shot back.

"Strategy and cheating are two very different things." Bobby said.

"Where's the kid?" Pyro asked, looking at the empty space behind Bobby.

"You'll get him when I see my parents are free."

Pyro laughed. "Same old Bobby. Still trying to negotiate when you have negotiate with."

"I have the kid don't I? Without him your plan fails."

"No Bobby, something to negotiate with is something to _threaten. _You can go ahead and kill that kid. What do you think I'm planning to do with him? No, you will do exactly what I tell you to do or your family will die. That's all there is too it."

Bobby reluctantly went and brought Jimmy out from the jet. Now that he was out in the open, he was going to have to be very careful. Pyro could attack him at any moment.

"Alright Pyro, you're the boss," He began. "So how's this gonna go down?"

Pyro started walking towards the house and signaled for him to follow. At the door they stopped, Pyro inside the house and Bobby out of it. When he saw Garnet, his heart stopped. Of course he should have foreseen that Pyro would have back up. But he didn't expect someone so young. She couldn't have been more than 16 years old. And yet here she was, unknowingly throwing away her future. He wondered how much Pyro had told her. Not much, he guessed. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised that Pyro was corrupting her. Even John had been known to use any means necessary to get what he wanted.

Pyro saw him staring and grinned. "Oh how rude of me not to do introductions. Garnet, this is my old pal Bobby, or 'Iceman' as he's calling himself these days. Bobby, this is my new friend, the very talented Garnet. She's the one that's creating the fire cage around your family right now."

"Hey," Garnet said to him. "Sorry we have to meet under such awkward circumstances."

"Hey," Bobby said to her in as soft a voice as he could. "Look, I don't know what Pyro here's told you, but you don't have to do this. We don't want to fight you. I understand that you might not like humans, but is hurting innocent people really going to solve anything?"

Garnet looked at the floor.

Pyro turned to face him. "Okay, now when I say, your gonna pass the kid over to this side of the door frame, and I'll let one of your family members over to your side."

"One? What about the rest of my family? That wasn't the agreement Pyro-"

"Considering we haven't made any agreements yet, I'd say that's totally fair. Garnet?"

She flicked her wrist and moved the fire cage so that it no longer covered Bobby's mother. She started to run towards Bobby, but Pyro shot up a wall of fire in front of her.

"Uh uh. Not yet. Bobby, the kid." Pyro said.

Bobby didn't know what to do. He wished Kitty would hurry up. But now that Pyro had an assistant, the whole plan could easily fail. He was stuck. He knew he couldn't hand Jimmy over. But he couldn't let his family suffer either.

Kitty suddenly burst through the floor. She looked at Bobby, Pyro and then Garnet, before diving back into the ground. She came up inside the fire cage, grabbed a hold of his father and brother and pulled them through the floor.

Bobby leapt into action. He pushed Jimmy behind him and shot a spray of ice at Pyro's hands. Pyro smashed the ice against the wall and melted the remainder with his fire. He sent one string of fire towards Bobby and the other around him at Jimmy. Iceman blocked them both, creating a protective barrier of ice over the door frame.

Kitty came back up through the floor and reached for Bobby's mother, but Garnet aimed her fire at her and pushed her up against the wall. Kitty disappeared through it and reappeared behind Garnet, grabbing her arms and pinning them against the wall. Garnet engulfed her body in flames and shock Kitty off. She kicked her in the gut as she turned. Kitty fell back against a desk.

Pyro took a step back and filled the entire room with flames. He stopped it again almost instantly. The chaos halted and Kitty and Mrs. Drake fell to the ground. Pyro picked up Mrs. Drake and held a flame to her neck.

"No one move, or I burn her head off!" He yelled. Everyone stayed where they were, the only movement being Bobby's ice wall melting into nothing.

"Garnet!" He shoved the woman into Garnets arms, where she then created a flame identical to Pyro's. "Now give me the cure." He said, turning to Bobby.

Bobby had no choice. He reluctantly handed the kid over. At least he knew they couldn't hurt him there and now, as they had no weapons and the fire wouldn't work on him. After he did, he shot Garnet one last desperate look.

"Please. Please don't do this."

Pyro laughed. "Forget it Bobby. She's way too intelligent to fall for your crap."

Garnet looked at Pyro. "Actually Pyro…maybe he's right. I mean…he's just a kid. Surely there's some other way."

Pyro sighed angrily. "Kids grow up to be adults, Garnet. He may look innocent and harmless, but he can and will doom our race. You have to understand. This is how it has to be."

"But he's not with the humans now, so they can't use him to make anymore of the cure. And there's mutants protecting him. He can be taught how to use his powers to help."

"How would he help us? His power is getting rid of mutant powers. We are fighting _humans._ There for he'd be worthless."

"Look, either way, he's just a kid. And… I'm sorry, but I'm not about to killan innocent child." Garnet said. And with that she let go of Mrs. Drake and went over to help Kitty up, who was still lying on the ground after Pyro told everyone not to move.

"Sorry about that." She said to her. "Just kinda went with the flow."

"No problem," Kitty said, half serious and half sarcastic. She hadn't decided whether or not she liked this girl yet. "You were actually pretty-"

"Enough!" Pyro yelled. He turned to Garnet. "So that's it? Your just giving up?"

"I'm not giving up. I just don't want to kill a little kid. And if that's the sort of stuff your organization does, then I want no part in it."

"Some things have to be done. They may not seem pleasant, but it's for the good of mutant-kind. It's kill or be killed. We can't just live in peace with the humans like those fools at the academy think."

"But maybe we can. If we just-"

"No! You don't get it. They are wrong. You can't start thinking like that. Humans was to destroy us. Trying to get along with them will only give them more chance to knock us down." Pyro knew he couldn't lose her to those pathetic X-Men. She was like nothing he'd ever seen. She was like a strong flame, sharp to touch but beautiful none the less. All that school would do was snuff her out.

"I dunno. Maybe your right, maybe your not. All I know is, we have a very different sense of ethics. And I'm sorry but I just don't want to be a part of that." She told him.

This was a disaster. Finally, a mutant who wasn't afraid to use her power. And she wanted to go to the _school!_ He couldn't let someone like this go that easy.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Killing a kid is the sort of thing that will give me nightmares. But the fact is, it has to be done. If he was an adult we wouldn't be thinking twice about it. I can't risk our future for one kid's life. I won't."

"Well your not gonna get the choice." Garnet walked up to Pyro and pulled Jimmy away and over to Bobby. "I think it's best we go our separate ways." She said, not looking at him.

"What, so that's it?" He asked. "After everything we've shared, everything we discussed. I know I haven't known your for that long, but it feels like I've known you forever. We have a connection, you know? I mean the idea of fighting side by side with someone like you, who not only shares my power but has control beyond anything I've ever seen. It would be magic. And your just throwing that away?"

"I don't have much of a choice. Some things just aren't right. Besides, I think the school would be good for me. I need to be amongst my own kind for a while. Goodbye Pyro. I'm really sorry I screwed up your plans."

And with that Garnet turned and left. Bobby followed with Jimmy, and so did Kitty after quickly dropping Mrs. Drake off with the rest of her family in a hidden bunker safe from Pyro. As a last ditch effort, Pyro shot of a large wall of flame to prevent them from leaving. But Garnet just looked at him sadly before creating a hole in the wall that they left through.

Pyro watched them walk away. He was stunned at how fast things had gone from perfect to disastrous. He was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. He listened as the jet took flight and disappeared. And then he just sat there, staring at the spot where they had left. He was alone, but that didn't matter. What mattered was…

He had lost again.

* * *

_Well, that's the last chapter. I think I'm gonna finish it here, because I have writer's block and can't think of how to continue it. If you have any ideas, please mention so in a review. Otherwise, this is it. _

_I hope you enjoyed my first, crappy fan fiction. I don't know how long it will be till I write another, because I am currently busy working on my original story, which you can read on . I'm under the same username as this account. _


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